COVID-19 Medical Personnel Exempt from Toll Fees on Nationwide Highways

Starting from the 1st of next month, the exemption benefits previously limited to Daegu and Gyeongbuk will be expanded nationwide

As the third wave of COVID-19 continues in South Korea, on the 28th, citizens lined up in long queues at the temporary screening clinic at Seoul Station in Jung-gu, Seoul, to get tested. As of midnight that day, the number of new confirmed cases was recorded at 356. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo Gang-wook] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Korea Expressway Corporation announced on the 28th that they will expand the toll exemption benefits for dispatched medical personnel, which had been limited to the Daegu and Gyeongbuk special disaster areas, to the entire country to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The toll exemption for dispatched medical personnel has been implemented since March last year only for Daegu Metropolitan City and certain areas of Gyeongsangbuk-do (Gyeongsan-si, Cheongdo-gun, Bonghwa-gun), which were designated as special disaster areas.

However, as COVID-19 has recently shown a nationwide resurgence, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport explained that it has decided to expand the exemption to all expressways nationwide.

Accordingly, from March 1, dispatched medical personnel can receive a full refund of tolls after the fact if they enter and exit the dispatched area using Hi-Pass.

To encourage contactless payment and prevent the spread of COVID-19, the exemption is limited to vehicles using Hi-Pass.

The toll exemption for dispatched medical personnel will be implemented until the infectious disease crisis alert level is downgraded from ‘Severe’ to ‘Warning’.

Previously, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport also implemented toll exemptions for route buses (express, intercity, and metropolitan) suffering from a sharp decline in passenger demand due to COVID-19, providing a total of 36.7 billion won in support last year.

Joo Hyun-jong, Director of the Road Bureau at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, “We will continue to seek various support measures to overcome the COVID-19 crisis.”